Jones to sign his book on John Marshall

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Susan Tuz STAFF WRITER

Published 1:00 am, Friday, November 28, 2008

RIDGEFIELD -- As a Revolutionary War re-enactor and descendant of Chief Justice John Marshall, former town resident Keith Jones had a keen interest in Marshall's early career as a Revolutionary soldier.

That interest led him to research and writing the book "Congress As My Government: Chief Justice John Marshall in the American Revolution (1775-1781)," in association with the
John Marshall Foundation
in Richmond, Va.

Jones will be at Books on The Common in Ridgefield on Dec. 6 from 2 to 4 p.m. to sign copies of the book. He'll give a talk on Marshall at 2:30 p.m.

Jones, who moved to Arizona from Ridgefield two years ago, started his research before leaving town. While president of the
Ridgefield Historical Society
, he wrote a history of the Battle of Ridgefield called "Farmers Against the Crown."

"From the moment I could read and write, my father told me about being a descendant of Marshall's legacy and what that meant," Jones said in a phone interview.

"As I became involved with Revolutionary re-enactments and began writing about the Battle of Ridgefield, I became more deeply interested in that part of my heritage."

Jones is five generations removed from Marshall. His great-grandfather, a Confederate colonel, married Marshall's granddaughter.

"That's the neatest thing about the American Revolution. When you start comparing yourself to it, it's not many generations that have passed since the event," Jones said.

While many histories have been written about Marshall and his role as chief justice, this is the first to follow Marshall's military career from a 19-year-old militia lieutenant to a company commander in
George Washington
's Continental Army.

It shows the young Marshall as a "social, virile man who made friends easily," Jones said. "He was a happy, joking man, who built up a large social network of contacts. Just his nature brought even people with whom he had different political opinions ... to count him as a friend."

Jones found the story of a soldier from Virginia was not that different from stories of Connecticut soldiers during the Revolution. They all suffered and lost a lot of their wealth, he said.

"Marshall learned during the war that a strong central government was needed to pull the country together," Jones said.

"He learned you can't run an army with a committee in the legislature, you can't pay an army without a tax system, and that only a strong central government with a chief executive could raise funds to maintain a country and could run one."

If you go WHO: Keith Jones, past president of the Ridgefield Historical Society. What: Signing his book, "Congress As My Government: Chief Justice John Marshall in the American Revolution (1775-1781)." when: Dec. 6 from 2 to 4 p.m., with talk on Marshall at 2:30 p.m. Where: Books on The Commons, 109 Danbury Road/Route 35, Ridgefield